Month: May 2017

Our Stay at GoldenEye, Jamaica

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You may have seen from my social channels that we went to Jamaica in February for our second wedding anniversary, and it was the most incredible holiday. Last year for Tim’s birthday we went to St Lucia and we fell in love with the Caribbean – the food, the weather, the people, everything was perfect. But Jamaica has officially upped the Caribbean’s game even further, it has completely stolen my heart. I can’t believe I’m only just getting round to writing about it on here, I don’t know where the time has gone. We booked through Turquoise Holidays who we worked with for our honeymoon in the Maldives and last year’s trip to St Lucia, and they were excellent as always. We spent ages scrolling through their websites and brochures and couldn’t decide where to go, but then we came across GoldenEye and knew we’d found the one! This was where Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond books. He first went to Jamaica during WWII, sent by Naval Intelligence to investigate U-Boat activities in the …

Saving the Forest with The Gin Bothy

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It’s no secret now that I just adore gin. I think this was encouraged by my best friend Ceri, who you will no doubt have read about on this blog – she is a gin queen and has inspired my love of this delicious spirit. I’m always excited to learn about and try new gins, and one of these recently was the Scottish ‘Gin Bothy’, with a wonderful and heart warming story. I’m also a lover of all things Scottish – you might have read about my recent trips to Edinburgh and Loch Lomond on here – Tim and I are hoping to visit again soon, this time with the car to explore even further afield. This is also a gin which is ‘doing good’ – sales of the artisan small batch gin are raising money to conserve the precious ancient pine trees whose needles give it flavour. Loch Arkaig pine forest near Spean Bridge was recently bought in a partnership between the Woodland Trust and community group Arkaig Community Forest. Now award-winning Angus distiller …

Lunch at The Whitstable Oyster Company, Kent

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Ever since we got a car towards the end of last year, we’ve been looking for places to explore within an hour or two of our house in South London. One of the neighbouring and closest counties to us is Kent, and this has been the location of many countryside jaunts of late. The most recent took us to the coast, in Whitstable. It took us about an hour and 45 mins to drive there, which wasn’t too bad, and given it was the bank holiday, there was still plenty of parking available. The weather was looking a bit ‘iffy’ to say the least so perhaps people hadn’t risked it. But we did and it certainly paid off, as it stayed dry the whole time we were there – with beaming blue skies at some points. I absolutely love the sea side. I miss being able to see the sea from my bedroom window in Cyprus, and spending afternoons after school and at weekends lazing on the beach. The British seaside might not be quite …

Cheese and Beef at Bordelaise, Tooting

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Cheese. Beef. France. Perfection! When I heard about new restaurant Bordelaise in Tooting, it sounded like my idea of heaven. As any regular readers of the blog will know, those are some of my favourite things in life, so I was really excited to pay Bordelaise a visit, especially as it was a new local business. Located in the heart of Broadway Market, it’s a small and cosy venue. Many of the restaurants in my area, Bordelaise included, have been given glowing reviews in media outlets like Time Out and Evening Standard recently, our lovely Tooting is certainly growing in popularity! We took a seat in the restaurant, set up with traditional wooden tables and red walls adorned with French art, and tried a Swiss beer to begin with (‘1936’), I believe a first for me, and it was really nice – light and refreshing! We were presented with the cheeseboard and offered three to choose from – it was so difficult to decide (first world problems, but a real problem for a cheese lover!). …